The World is Safe…For Now, Arrow “Monument Point” 

Lyla: The President asked me if the fate of the world is resting on an IT girl, a criminal and two guys in Halloween costumes.

Oliver: They’re not Halloween costumes.

They may not be Halloween costumes, but that doesn’t make POTUS wrong! This was my favorite line of the night, not only because it was darn funny, but also because it made me realize that we’ve never really seen Team Arrow outside of the Star City/Central City bubble…does the rest of the world even know who they are? Or are they just local heroes? Either way, I have a feeling everyone is about to find out considering that the stakes have been upped and the world is facing impending doom. Luckily Team Green Arrow was able to divert Rubicon and prevent the majority of the apocalypse, but I don’t think that means we’re in the clear. Next week is sure to bring more chaos, so let’s take a look at what we learned this week.

Felicity’s Dad Is Not Such A Bad Guy — Or at least he doesn’t think he is. After Felicity realizes that dear old dad is one of the only people knowledgeable enough to divert Rubicon and save the world, she takes one for the team.

Felicity: The world is facing nuclear armageddon, my pride and my general dislike for my father can take a backseat for the next 20+ hours.

That being said, as always, Darhk is one step ahead of them and by the time Oliver and Diggle get to Noah’s hideout, it’s too late. But after a little digging (and a little TMI from her mom), Felicity discovers where he’s hiding and after rescuing him from Darhk’s ghosts, she gets him to help deactivate Rubicon without much persuading…and also without any love lost.

Felicity: Let’s make this simple, this isn’t a reconciliation, this isn’t a reunion, this is you helping me save the world.

Noah: And what makes you think I can?

Felicity: Damian Darhk thinks you can and that’s why he sent last year’s greatest hits to take you down. You’re a smart man, I’m assuming you know what Rubicon is?

Noah: And I’m assuming it’s under Darhk’s control?

Felicity: We have 12 hours to stop it. That’s it?

Noah: You seem surprised.

Felicity: I was expecting a quid pro quo.

Noah: Felicity, I may be a terrible father.

Felicity: May?

Noah: But I’m not a monster. Terrible or not, I am your father as long as you’re living and I have an interest in seeing that this world doesn’t end.

And this is just the first of MANY references Noah makes to being a bad father but not being a bad guy. All of which, Felicity efficiently dismisses.

Noah: Look, I know I’ve done what appears to be some terrible things…

Felicity: You tried to steal from me…

Noah: Are we not stealing from you now?

Felicity: No. A) It’s not my company anymore. And B) We’re trying to save the world.

Granted, his timing is awful (call me crazy, but if someone holds the world’s fate in their hands, I’d like them to be focused!), but I couldn’t help but feel like the guy was really trying. When we first saw Noah, he seemed to have absolutely no interest in anything besides his own success, so I like seeing this side of him. Not to mention that it allowed Felicity to deliver some pretty good one-liners…she really was on FIRE this week.

But back to Noah. After realizing his explanations were falling on deaf ears, he attempted another tactic, go for the friends. So while Felicity was off saving the world, he tried to explain himself to Oliver aka Green Arrow.

Noah: I’m not the man my daughter thinks, you know.

Arrow: Don’t tell me, tell her.

Noah: I’ve tried. But explaining there are two sides to me, the father, the hacker, she sees only the criminal. I mention this because you strike me as someone with experience leading a dual life. Any insights you care to share?

Arrow: Yeah, it doesn’t work. You leading a dual life is why you lost her.

Noah: You sound like you’re talking from some personal experience.

Not going to lie, I kind of loved this interaction. The irony of it was front and center and after Oliver’s earlier attempt to deliver insight was rebuked, it was interesting to see Felicity’s father come to him, her daughter’s one-time fiancee (even though he doesn’t know that) for advice. Again, his timing was awful, but considering that he and Felicity are estranged, sometimes you have to make do with what you’re given. That being said, I’m interested to see if Felicity softens a bit now that he’s actually come through for her. And the world.

Malcolm Was Behind Thea Being Part of Genesis — I don’t think this was a surprise to any of us. As I mentioned last week, Darhk’s plan for the world is a much bigger version of Malcolm’s plan for the Glades in Season 1. And as such, Malcolm had no problem jumping on board because in his eyes, the world is beyond saving. So if you can’t save the world, then you might as well save yourself and the daughter. Totally selfish, but also not totally unrealistic. And in a conveniently timed coincidence, Thea happens to arrive just before Lonnie Machin figures out how to make his way underground and blow the promise land to kingdom come. Fortunately, Thea’s personal relationship — and his creepy insistence on calling her “mommy” (shudder!) — make her think that she has an “in” and can convince him to change his minds. But as we’ve seen with bad guys, that’s rarely the case.

Luckily, Merlyn is able to disarm the bombs, but that doesn’t mean Machin is done. A backyard fight results in Machin’s take down, but not before he delivers a clever, but generally accurate, quip.

Lonnie: What is it with you? Why are you always at the mercy of some guy? You can make your own decisions, Thea. You’re not a pawn, you’re a queen.

Call me crazy, but Thea does always seem to be at the mercy of some guy…or at least following in his path. I have a feeling this little truth-bomb will come back to us before long…and if the promo for next week is any indication, it doesn’t seem that Thea is exactly feeling like herself when Oliver finally makes it down to her new dome-town.

Diggle Has No Intention Of Telling Lyla The Truth About Andy’s Death – I mentioned that this concerned me last week and apparently I’m not the only one.

Oliver: Can I talk to you about something?

Diggle: Yeah.

Oliver: I spoke to Lyla and she’s worried about you because you said you shot Andy in self defense.

Diggle: Oliver, I don’t want to talk about this.

Oliver: You never said anything about self defense to me, John.

Diggle: Couldn’t tell Lyla the truth and have her look at me the same way anymore.

Oliver: Come on, you don’t know that.

Diggle: Oliver, you’re the last person to be lecturing someone about lying to the people they love.

Oliver: I’m not lecturing. I’m worried. You’re better than me at this. And you’re hurting worse than I’ve ever seen you. Don’t compound that by lying to your wife. The fact that I lied to Felicity does not give me less credibility, if anything, it should tell you that I know what I’m talking about.

Okay, so I agree that Oliver isn’t exactly the pillar of morality and probably not the first person who should be giving out advice, but he does have a point. He’s learned from his mistakes and thus, can come at it from a “don’t do what I did” angle. Granted, Diggle’s lie is a bit different, but I have no doubt that killing Andy will continue to eat away at him and if he can’t share his feelings with his wife because he wasn’t honest, I can only see that making things worse. That being said, with everything going on, I don’t know if this is the time for a heart-to-heart, but I do hope it happens eventually. For Diggle’s sake. The last thing I want is for him turning in to Oliver.

Donna Would Rather Quentin Tell The Truth Than Keep His Job – Yeah, I have to admit, I don’t really get this one. I mean, I do not in any way condone lying, but when it comes to superheroes, I feel like there’s a gray area. Everyone who knows the identity of the members of Team Green Arrow has to lie to someone to protect them, that’s just a part of being “in the inner circle.” So why is it so bad that Quentin pretends he didn’t know what Laurel was up to? I mean, until Oliver outed her at the funeral, 99.99% of the world didn’t know Laurel was the Black Canary, so is it really unfathomable that Quentin wouldn’t know? For a long time, he didn’t have the slightest clue who made up Team Arrow. I mean, I get knowing and supporting her decision is a good thing, but when she’s already dead and his job is at stake, what’s the harm in saying he didn’t know? Wouldn’t it be worse for him to say he did and the Police Force to admit that he was working with Darhk? What kind of negative effect would that have on the city and their belief in law enforcement? Not to mention that like he said, if he’s not on the force, he can’t continue to do good. And will this also put him in a position where he has to out the other members of Team Green Arrow? That can’t be good for anyone. Again, I get Donna wanting honesty, but she knows so little about this world and the truth behind it that it kind of shocked me when Quentin took her advice and amended the document. Either way, I’m interested to see if this makes him a truth-teller or a disgraced ex-cop.

The Idol Affects Whoever Comes Near It — So I still don’t get how this whole idol thing works. Or what it does. But apparently it leeches on to whoever is around it too long and gives them powers. I’m not sure if those powers are just powers or if they are evil powers and change the person entirely. Either way, Taiana’s glowy yellow eyes did not seem like a good thing and I’m starting to suspect why Oliver’s time on the island had such an impact on him. That being said, Taiana has been kind of a dud character so far and I’ve questioned her purpose in the flashbacks, so if this finally gives her character some depth and weight, I may be willing to get on board.

Felicity saved the world but 10,000 people died in the process – Thanks to her father and some serious B&E from Team Arrow, Felicity was able to divert most of the missiles before they turned the earth into rubble. But most isn’t all. Thanks to a surprise visit from Murmur, one measly little nuke managed to slide through their efforts.

Oliver: You need to divert that missile.

Felicity: You are lucky I’m too busy to come up with a witty response to that right now.

All humor aside, Felicity did her best and managed to save some lives at the expense of others. Using an old prank from her bag of tricks, she diverted the one escaped missile from hitting Monument Point by realigning the GPS coordinates and sending it off course. As such, this resulted a pretty big boom on Havenrock and according to Lyla, tens of thousands of deaths. Yes, people dying is a bad thing, but as Lyla pointed out, tens of thousands of casualties is far better than a couple million. That being said, we know how sensitive Felicity is and I have no doubt that she is still going to take this pretty hard. Hopefully in time she can take to heart the advice she gives Oliver and see all the good she did rather than only what was lost.

Darhk Found The Magic Layline –  Or as Diggle so cleverly dubbed it, the Magic Wifi! While I’m not entirely sure why this magic-death-power was necessary if he was planning on destroying the world via nuclear warheads, I have no doubt next week’s episode will provide us with that and many more answers as the team attempts to save the world yet again.

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.